Tidy Towns program kickoff set
BY STEPHANIE LASOTA Republican
Herald
10/01/2007
Equipment? Check. Volunteers? Check.
Food and refreshments? Check.
The northern Schuylkill umbrella revitalization group
Upper Schuylkill Downtowns and its partners will kick off its Tidy
Towns program on Wednesday in Ashland at the parking lot at Centre
and 8th streets.
New cleaning equipment, purchased to aid in the "Safe,
Clean and Green" initiative to promote downtown revitalization
in the six participating boroughs Upper Schuylkill serves, will be
on display.
"We're hoping to get all the downtown volunteers,
all the borough council members and anyone who wants to, to come on
Wednesday," Patrice K. Rader, the agency's executive director,
said last week.
The $150,000 program is funded with a $1 million grant
through state Sen. James J. Rhoades, R-29, which allows Upper Schuylkill
to implement special programs such as Tidy Towns.
"The estimated cost of all the equipment is around
$80,000 and the rest of the money will be used for maintenance and
additional equipment over the next five years to maintain the program,"
Rader said.
Upper Schuylkill hopes to begin rotation of the new
cleaning equipment among the six communities by Oct. 8, she added.
Last week, according to Rader, eight trash receptacles
were installed in the downtown areas of the boroughs - Ashland, Frackville,
Girardville, Mahanoy City, Ringtown and Shenandoah - as part of the
Tidy Towns Program.
Among other program equipment that will be used by the
communities on an alternating basis are a Green Machine sidewalk cleaner
and a John Deere Gator TX Traditional Series Utility Vehicle that
could be used for hauling mulch and supplies for special events.
"Each of our towns has several events, plus they
do a clean sweep twice a year or more and they do landscaping,"
Rader said.
The program also purchased a line painter - a Graco
Line Lazer IV5900 2 Gun with auto layout - to keep pedestrian walkways
and parking spaces "white and bright," she added.
"The six communities right now are paying for that
service from outside contractors, so that will be a savings for them
in that way," she said.
Many of the participating towns are thrilled to have
equipment - they otherwise would not be able to afford - at their
fingertips.
"If you're able to do it on your own, you're able
to save some money there," said Steve Ulceski, Ashland borough
manager, about the line painter. "In Schuylkill County, a lot
of towns are working together and seeing the benefits."
Mahanoy City Borough Manager Jerry Teter said working
with other communities is something he's been wanting to see for a
long time.
"It's something, since I've become borough manager,
I have been advocating and it's coming into fruition with the six
communities working together," he said. "You start small
and you work into much larger venues."
Rader said that six towns working together on a steering
committee, which is made up of four representatives from each downtown
group, borough representatives and borough councils, is unique.
"I hope it promotes pride within each community,"
she said.
"It's becoming increasingly difficult to provide
for certain services (individually) because you don't have the revenue
capacity to do it," said Joe Palubinsky, Shenandoah borough manager.
"I think northern Schuylkill County is setting the standard for
the county and the region by participating in something like this."
The Tidy Towns Program has appointed Mary Crespo, Ashland
- she's also known as "Tidy Mary," according to Rader -
to keep track of equipment reservation, inventory, checking on maintenance
and making sure the equipment is being used properly.
"She'll be coordinating from the time we kick off,"
Rader said.
"Basically, it should be a pretty easy program
once we get the scheduling done and the towns are trained on the equipment.
We're only going to run it to the end of November because of weather
and I'm hoping next spring we'll run an even better program,"
Crespo said, adding, "I think it will be a great program to give
the towns a little more pride in their environment and in their main
streets."
© The REPUBLICAN & Herald
2007
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